Overheating was an issue for a number of teams last year. With everyone working with the same bodywork package, how did this influence your approach to your original powertrain design?
Overheating typically was related to the battery systems. SPARK has made a number of improvements that should help in this area. Certainly as everyone has focused on how the powertrain works, looking at how best manage the efficiency and to ensure that more of the battery energy is used to drive the car forward as opposed to converting it to heat will help this area.
What sparked Andretti's relationship with Houston Mechatronics?
We were looking for a company that shared our vision, our competitive nature, our dynamic approach along with access to cutting edge technology. Also, having come out of the space industry, they were well versed in high performance applications but without any preconceived ideas how things should be done in a motorsport environment
Did the new powertrain have any impact on weight distribution?
We set out with a specific weight distribution in mind and focused on achieving that.
We noticed quite a variance in gearing at certain corners. Was there any team that surprised you with what they were doing during the tests?
I think that given the variety of approaches taken between single speed, 2 two speed and multi-speed gearboxes and the single / twin motor configurations it is not surprising that cars ran in different manners.
If the initial tests showed anything it’s that the field is still relatively tight despite the varying technology. With this in mind do you think efficiency or power will be a deciding factor in the championship?
The power is actually fixed by the FIA – so we all operate to the same peak power level. The varying approaches to motors means that motor torque could be dramatically different though.
Efficiency is the key though – the electric motor from McLaren was actually quite efficient so improvements will be modest as opposed to dramatic. But improvements can also come from the inverter(s), the transmission system, the packaging etc. etc.